New Home Tips, Trends, and Ideas - Raleigh Custom Home Builders

Which metal finish is more popular for 2017, chrome or brushed nickel?

Whereas chrome used to be considered the "cheap" option for kitchen fixtures just a few years ago, it's now more popular than ever in higher end homes.

Chrome Versus Brushed Nickel

With the surge in new homes with chrome fixtures, hardware, and lighting, we asked Andrea to explain the trend:

"My philosophical answer is that with most people's view on the world today as GLOBAL, somehow almost everything that ever was will have to remain available for those who like it--we can't suddenly bully poor old brushed nickel just because its not as shiny as chrome :) that just wouldn't be nice or fair!

Plus many people feel comfort in the fact that their brushed nickel kitchen faucet matches so nicely with their stainless steel appliances.

Here's an example of a chrome sink faucet paired with a stainless steel sink and brushed nickel pot filler in the same kitchen:

Manufacturers are going to have a tougher and tougher time nailing down which direction to go in when it comes to metallic finishes but they are still banking on the color association of America to be correct and those folks still do their very in depth research of the market in order to advise manufacturers as to what color to make their new products appealing to millennials.

I see nothing cast in stone for 2017 as far as chrome versus brushed nickel, however, very notably, brushed nickel doesn't best pull off several of the interior household looks or styles that continue to be popular: farmhouse, rustic, modern, and updated traditional. All of those looks, regardless of how new and fresh they are today, are based on periods from both the 19th and 20th centuries during which brushed nickel did not exist.

So, what finishes are picking up in popularity for 2017?

Copper Kitchen Fixtures

Yet what is worth mentioning this year is the continuation of copper--just touches of it will do a lot and its being shown as a companion metal finish to every other finish out there so you're free to throw it in wherever you like: a bar sink, some pendant lights, cabinet hardware, a few bar accessories or kitchen accessories to display."

Here are some Raleigh new home photos with examples of copper finishes. Each kitchen uses only a touch of copper, mixed with a variety of other metals and finishes.

Chrome has come back very strong and is being categorized as the long term classic finish.

Brushed nickel is still chosen but people aren't as excited about it. Bronze is still strong as well.

Every bathroom faucet finish has its challenges. With bronze there are so many shades of bronze between the light fixtures, the plumbing fixtures, the cabinet hardware, the bath hardware, and the door hardware! In the end, we always make it work, blending the different metal colors together.

People seem to love bronze for door hardware because they love bronze for foyer fixtures, dining fixtures, ceiling fans, and kitchen pendants, so then they get to the bathroom and a brushed nickel faucet just seems out of place!

(Bronze Foyer Light)

For some reason chrome with bronze seems to work better because those two finishes provide much more of a contrast to each other which seems more pleasing to the eye and less random than a brushed nickel faucet in an otherwise dominantly bronze home.

(Polished Chrome Shower Head in the same home)

However, now we are in the middle of 2016 and the designers love gold! Of course they do--but its GOLD and not the gold-looking polished brass from the late 80's and 90's. So if you want the glamour of the latest in your powder room or master bath, then mixing it with bronze is going to be the easiest way to go.

What about copper you ask? Copper is also mixing well with bronze. Copper is finish you want if you are going for either rustic refined, or industrial, or even organic. Having a touch or two of copper in a signature piece such as a range hood or a bar sink, or free standing tub, or kitchen pendants or even just cabinet hardware or my latest, a front door kick plate, is just the touch you need. We have done all of those in one Stanton Home or another over the past year, mixed in again, mostly with bronze. That's the heavy on metal.

Copper Freestanding Tub

Copper Range Hood

Copper Kitchen Pendant Lights

Copper Cabinet Hardware

Interior Design Tips:

Andrea has helped mix and match finish colors in dozens of North Carolina custom homes.

Have a kitchen or interior design trend question for your new home?Ask Andrea, and she'll let you know all the latest in custom home and design/build trends! Andrea works closely with each Stanton Homes client to help design homes that fit every lifestyle and taste.